Rummy in Dhaka

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is scheduled to visit Bangladesh, hoping to interest the Bangladeshi government to send troops for peacekeeping duties in Iraq or Afghanistan. However he says he has no intentions to request these troops formally.

Almost every segment of Bangladeshi public opinion is against the US war in Iraq. Both the opposition Awami League and Islamist faction of the ruling coalition have called for street protests and strikes to welcome Rumsfeld.